Does Alcohol Make You Sleepy? What We Know

If a person chooses to consume alcohol, drinking in moderation several hours before bed is the best practice for avoiding sleep disturbances. Having a beverage containing alcohol in the evening from time to time may slightly disrupt sleep, but consuming alcohol for multiple nights in a row or cocaine abuse and addiction every night carries a greater risk of insomnia. There is a higher prevalence of insomnia in people with ADHD and AUD, but consuming alcohol to manage insomnia generally worsens sleeplessness. 2020 research suggests that alcohol impacts the part of sleep known as rapid eye movement (REM).

1. For menopausal women, in particular, disrupted sleep can trigger or worsen hot flashes.
2. The rebound effect may include more time in REM—a lighter sleep stage from which it is easy to be awakened.
3. If you still have sleep problems, consult a healthcare provider for more guidance.
4. You can discuss your alcohol use and sleep habits with a physician to get a personalized plan to help you change your relationship with alcohol and get better sleep.
5. These breathing disruptions also impact the quality of your sleep.

Can Alcohol Cause Insomnia?

A racing heart may disrupt sleep or cause someone to fully awaken. People’s tolerance to alcohol as a sleep aid rapidly increases, leading to insomnia and alcohol dependence. Research from 2018 corroborates this, suggesting that people experience a lower duration and quality of REM after consuming alcohol. Older research suggests the effects on REM sleep appear to be dose related. Low and moderate doses of alcohol tend not to affect REM in the first half of sleep, while high doses of alcohol significantly reduce REM sleep reduction in the first part of sleep. However, researchers do not agree on how alcohol interferes with REM sleep.

How to sleep after drinking

One study found that U.S. adults who reported getting six hours or five or fewer hours of sleep also reported increased sugary beverage consumption. It’s wise to stop drinking caffeinated drinks in the late afternoon and evening, as caffeine’s effects can last four to six hours after consumption. That means drinking it too close to bedtime could keep you from getting the rest you need. Having a drink can decrease the time you fall asleep and enhance non-REM sleep initially. However, it severely disrupts sleep during the second half of the night.

Tips on Being More Sleep Responsible With Drinks

As a central nervous system (CNS) depressant, alcohol has a sedative effect that may cause you to fall asleep more quickly than usual. Alcohol disrupts sleep quality throughout the night, leading to less restful and restorative sleep. While drinking alcohol before bedtime may help you feel relaxed and sleepy, enjoying a nightcap puts you at risk of experiencing repeated wakings and low-quality sleep later in the night. If alcohol continues to disrupt your overall sleep quality, you may consider cutting it out entirely, or limiting your intake before bedtime. If you’ve stopped drinking alcohol, but are still having sleep issues, be sure to reach out to a sleep specialist.

Experts state that acute insomnia lasts up to a few days to weeks, while chronic insomnia continues for several months. Studies have found conflicting information about how alcohol affects REM sleep. Alcohol appears to consistently delay the first REM sleep episode, and higher doses of alcohol appear to reduce the total amount of REM sleep.

Alcohol’s sedating effect is the strongest in the first few hours after drinking, explained Conroy. She recommended having your last drink at least three hours before you plan to go to bed. If you’ve cut yourself off but are still out with friends, start hydrating with water, Winter recommended. Even though alcohol can make you feel sleepy, it may impact your overall quality of sleep. If you go to bed with alcohol still in your system, you may experience headaches, frequent awakenings, night sweats, more intense snoring, and nightmares.

One study found if you drink alcohol during a natural dip in energy (like your afternoon slump), your urge to sleep may override the stimulating effects of alcohol. If you drink when your energy is naturally rising (like in the early evening), alcohol may be more stimulating and increase how long it takes to fall asleep. If you’re regularly feeling under-rested, heavy drinking may be to blame. If you do not have an alcohol use disorder (AUD), here are some steps you should take. When your body is metabolizing alcohol while you’re asleep, you’ll experience more NREM sleep and less REM sleep than you otherwise would.

One of the best things you can do when working to change your sleep and drinking habits is to create an alcohol-free nighttime routine. This can include relaxing activities like taking a hot bath or percolators 101: perc bongs to know drinking soothing tea. Another important part of a nighttime routine is maintaining a consistent sleep schedule. While 8 hours is typically a healthy amount of sleep, every individual is different.

Research from 2020 states that alcohol reduces sleep quality, and while it may not significantly reduce REM sleep, there is dysregulation. Alcohol may also result in suppressed REM sleep in the short term. As detox basics alcohol enhances the GABA’s function, it causes a slowing of brain activity, which can make a person feel sleepy and tired. However, even small amounts of alcohol can have noticeable effects in some people.

You’ve probably heard that a glass of warm milk before bed can be calming. For some people, milk might also cause digestive discomfort if they’re sensitive to the lactose in dairy products. Jessica Migala has been a health, fitness, and nutrition writer for almost 15 years. She has contributed to more than 40 print and digital publications, including EatingWell, Real Simple, and Runner’s World. Jessica had her first editing role at Prevention magazine and, later, Michigan Avenue magazine in Chicago. She currently lives in the suburbs with her husband, two young sons, and beagle.

Drinking heavily over time can also disrupt the chemical messengers in the brain, which can affect sleep. Unsurprisingly, studies of people with insomnia have also found that heavy alcohol use exacerbates insomnia. People who wake up feeling unrefreshed may be more likely to rely on alcohol again to help them sleep the next night, leading to a counterproductive pattern of alcohol use. Poor sleep quality impairs your body’s ability to regulate body temperature.

But these behaviors can make it harder to sleep the next night, leading to even more sleep debt. CBTi is recommended as the best starting point for treating insomnia that has lasted more than four weeks (chronic insomnia). Unlike sleeping pills, CBTi helps you overcome the underlying causes of your sleep problems rather than just alleviating the symptoms.

This is often known as ‘alcohol dependence.’ As alcohol is removed from the equation in early sobriety, its common to experience various withdrawal symptoms as the body adjusts and heals. Insomnia, sleep interruptions, and feeling anxious when you stop drinking are all common symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. As alcohol increases GABA activity in the brain, you may start to feel sleepy. But this doesn’t mean a nightcap should be part of your bedtime routine.

Most health providers recommend drinking six to eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day to supplement the water you get from the foods. When you are dehydrated, the volume of water in your blood goes down, concentrating sodium levels. The increase in sodium, in turn, causes your body to secrete a hormone called vasopressin that prevents the kidneys from releasing water in urine, thereby preventing water loss. Drinking water can help normalize your blood pressure but doesn’t necessarily lower your blood pressure unless you are dehydrated. Because your blood is made up of 90% water, the overall volume will decrease when you are dehydrated. When this happens, the body will respond by narrowing blood vessels, causing blood pressure to rise.

Depending on how much you drink and how close to bedtime you drink it, alcohol can mess with your sleep in a number of ways. Alcohol can also cause a person to wake up throughout the night, as we’ve seen. This form of insomnia can leave you feeling under-rested, even after what should have been a full night of restful, restorative sleep. Chronic sleep problems are common among people who abuse alcohol long-term.

It is more often consumed at night, also called a nightcap, and may negatively affect your sleep. While alcohol can make you feel tired at first, it can also disturb your sleep as it wears off. Improving your sleep hygiene can also help if you usually rely on alcohol to fall asleep. It works fast too — 80% of RISE users get more sleep within five days. The best way to ensure alcohol doesn’t mess with your sleep is to avoid it altogether.

Finally, regular drinking has been linked to insomnia and other sleep disorders, especially later in life. It has a sedative effect that helps you relax and makes you drowsy, so you fall asleep faster. Sleep and circadian rhythm disruption from alcohol also contribute to next-day tiredness, fatigue, irritability, and difficulty concentrating.

Suppressing REM sleep can have detrimental consequences for memory consolidation and other cognitive processes. Sleep is essential for consolidating information learned throughout the day and performing daily tasks. Your daily habits and environment can significantly impact the quality of your sleep.

Having a drink or two with dinner or when you’re out with friends is still a big part of our culture in many parts of the world. A few drinks here and there shouldn’t hurt your overall health, but your drinking habits could be worth a second look if you find they’re impacting your sleep schedule or any other parts of your life. There are a ton of options for changing your drinking routine, whether that means cutting down a little or abstaining completely. The majority of Americans report drinking alcoholic beverages, and as is the case with most things, enjoying alcohol in moderation shouldn’t lead to any ill effects for a healthy person. What’s interesting about alcohol, though, is its unexpected effect on sleep. You may also experience parasomnias which are disruptive sleep disorders that occur in specific stages of sleep or in sleep-wake transitions.